


Stay with Me

by youhappenedovernight



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Chloe is lost and gay and scared, F/F, Sacrifice Max, but she is also in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-09-29 00:58:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17193491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youhappenedovernight/pseuds/youhappenedovernight
Summary: Max had only been back for a week and it had changed Chloe’s entire life.  And now Max just wants to take that all back?





	1. On Her Hands

The storm raged around them, threatening to consume Arcadia Bay, if not the whole world, whole.  It still had nothing on the storm building inside Chloe. 

Max had only been back for a week and it had changed Chloe’s entire life.   She’d taught her about accepting loss, about accepting herself, about wanting to be better.  About falling in love once with your best friend and falling in love with her all over again. 

And now Max wanted to take all of that away from Chloe, as if she hadn’t lost enough.  As if this week didn’t matter.  As if she didn’t feel whatever this was between them.

“Sacrificing yourself?! No, Max, you don’t get to do this.  You don’t get to do this to me!”

“It’s the only way to save everyone, Chloe.” 

“Everyone but you! You can’t fucking do this to me, Max.  We’ve been through too much.  Did it mean nothing to you?” 

“You know better than that.  I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist and I can’t live in a world that makes you a fucking orphan either.  You’ve had enough loss.” 

“So, I’ll just lose you instead?  Max, that’s bullshit and you know it.”

“When we go back, you won’t remember this week.  You’ll still hate me for leaving in the first place.  You won’t care...”

 “Are you fucking kidding?  Max, I...”

As if any of the people in this town mattered to Chloe.  As if anyone mattered more than Max.

“Just...I need to do this.  Nathan will fall apart and he’ll squeal on Jefferson.  I’ll get justice for Rachel, for Kate, for you.   I love you, Chloe.  I need you to know that.”

Max focused on the photo and Chloe felt lost and sick.  She should have been saying she loved her too, more and more every day they’d been back together; she should have been snatching the photo from her; she should have been doing _anything_ but just standing there.  So she reached for her. 

The feeling of going back in time is hard to explain – like implosion and explosion at once.  Like being sucked through a straw and being pulled apart on the way out.  If this is what Max went through every time, Chloe could understand the nosebleeds.  It felt like her brain was getting crushed and then ripped into tiny pieces.

At the end of the time jump, Chloe found herself in the bathroom again, in front of Nathan.  So much of it felt eerily recognizable, though Chloe had never experienced it. 

Nathan’s rage, eyes dark and heavy with fragile emotion.

The gun way too close to her gut.

The blue butterfly floating in, almost carelessly.

But now there’s Max, getting his attention, making him turn to her. 

Chloe wanted to stop this.  She wanted to stop the whole damn thing, but all she could do was freeze, even when the shot rang out and the gun clattered hard to the floor.  Even as the deep red stain blossomed at Max’s chest. 

Chloe crouched at Max’s limp form, placing her hand over her chest. 

“Max, Max...no...stay with me, please!” Blood warm against her hands, she pressed harder as Max’s eyes became glassy, as blood now seeping from the corners of her mouth, “Max, hey, look at me, keep looking at me.”  Chloe could hear the sirens, the footsteps nearing the door, Nathan mumbling and rocking back and forth in the corner, “Help will be here soon.  Just hang on.  Don’t leave me.”

Max sputtered, coughed frothy red blood, “It worked.”  And then Max’s eyes fell closed.

“No!  Max!”  

Chloe would only remember the next moments in flashes.  It had felt like she lived it in flashes too.   In snapshots.

The bathroom door swinging open.

Her stepfather pulling her away from Max.  Her fighting him off unsuccessfully, wiry arms too weak even now.

Guns drawn on Nathan. 

Max being carried from the bathroom.  Chloe trying to follow.  Chloe being held back.

David trying to question her presence in the bathroom in the first place.  Chloe struggling against him. 

David Madsen had not always been a great man, a great husband, or a great stepfather.  But he had been good soldier.  Had always run toward danger and not away. 

“Let me fucking go!  I need to get to her!”  Chloe was pounding David’s chest, hard, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Chloe, you have to calm down, there’s nothing you can do for her now.  How do you even know her?” 

“She’s my best friend.”

David looked at her quizzically.  Maxine Caulfield had not been on his radar.  She wasn’t a stellar student, but she wasn’t a bad one.  She wasn’t a burn out.  Or part of the Vortex Club, those degenerates.  She wasn’t a part of the drug scene.  She was quiet and stayed mostly to herself.

And for those reasons, she couldn’t possibly be a friend of Chloe’s.

But the look in Chloe’s eyes – it wasn’t something that David could ignore, it was something David understood.

“What were you doing in the bathroom?”

“Fuck off!  I need to get to her!”

Chloe wouldn’t remember the ride to the hospital.

She’d just remember staring at Max’s drying blood on her hands.


	2. Dying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's Max, right? I've been waiting for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Yes, I do think Rachel would flirt mercilessly with Max. Fight me.

Chloe hates emergency rooms – the sterility, the bright lights, the death.  All of it brings back bad memories, but none of those memories could compare to this because this, this one, was her fault.  She did this. 

She caught a glimpse of Max being rushed past triage into an operation room.  She looked so pale, so small, on that gurney.  Chloe wanted to grab her, to hold her tight, to fix it all.  She started taking a determined step in that direction, intent on running to catch up with the gurney while David was preoccupied with calling her mother. 

But when she got to the two swinging doors, there was someone in front of her.  A nurse placing his hands on her shoulders.

“You’ve helped her all you could. Let us work.”

“Just fucking save her.  Please.  You have to save her.” 

As the doors swung open and closed again and Max disappeared from sight, Chloe looked back down at her hands.

God, Max had lost so much blood.  Chloe wasn’t a doctor, but she knew Max had probably lost too much blood in that bathroom.

Max wasn’t going to make it.  Chloe knew that much. 

And it was all her fault.

“Go clean up.” David’s hand rested on her shoulder, “Your mother is on her way and she can’t see you like this.  Joyce also called Max’s parents.  I told her that the police would contact them, but...”

“But the Caulfields are family.  And they deserve to hear from one of us.”  Five years apart did not suddenly erase the years the Caulfields and the Prices spent with one another.  Chloe knew that now more than ever.

Chloe found the nearest public bathroom.  It was the first time she’d really looked at herself –took in her tired eyes and tear-streaked face.  Max’s blood was on her shirt, her pants...Max was everywhere on her.

_This is you, Chloe. This is what you do to people.  You trick them into giving a shit about you until you completely destroy them.  Max is dying because you made her care again, because you fucking held her hand on train tracks, you flirted, because you dared you to kiss her.  And you didn’t even get a chance to tell her how you felt.  You never told her you loved her, you fucking coward._

Her hands gripped the sides of the sink so hard that her knuckles were going white.  Still holding the sink, she sunk to the floor with a pained sob. 

* * *

 

Dying was _strange_.  Max had no other way to put it.  The bullet had pierced through her, burning hot and painful as hell.  She didn’t remember falling to the floor, she just remembered looking up at the ceiling and then looking up at Chloe’s frantic, scared eyes and feeling Chloe’s hands pressed into her.  Chloe was saying things – or her lips were moving – but Max couldn’t make out any of the words.  But it was becoming harder and harder for her to breathe and even more difficult to keep from falling asleep.  She just felt so tired. The feeling in her body started to fade.  Max felt warm and then cold and then colder still.  She felt the power within her – the gift, the curse, the what-the-fuck-ever – change.  She did it.  She fixed it.  And now she just wanted to close her eyes. 

And so she did.

There was no white light when she opened her eyes again – just the junkyard that Chloe brought her to during the week that never was. 

She caught a glimpse of the doe that had been with her that whole week.  But it just as quickly disappeared behind the unfinished building – Rachel and Chloe’s hangout.

 _That’s gotta be a sign, right?_ Max thought as she followed its path.

Inside the structure was a familiar face.  A face she’d never seen in person, only in photos.  A person she’d never met, but felt like she knew pretty well.

“Max, right?  I’ve been waiting for you.” 

“You knew I’d come?” 

“Well, I had a feeling this is where the universe would bring you.  It chooses places of importance, I think.”

“But where is here?”

“Hm, I’ve been calling it the in-between.  Not quite purgatory.  No fire and brimstone, you know?  The universe brought me to Frank’s RV first.  It was my safe place after all.”  She finally stood.  She’s taller than Max, but still shorter than she’d imagined.  Maybe that’s what happens when people have larger than life personalities, “Anyway dude, we haven’t even been introduced.  I’m Rachel.”

 

* * *

 

Joyce rushed in to the emergency and spotted her blue-haired daughter easily amongst the crowd – the one time Joyce was happy that her daughter had a rebellious streak and dyed hair.

“Oh, Chloe.”  Joyce wrapped Chloe – shaking and sobbing – in her arms.  She hadn’t held her daughter like this since – well, since William died.  And even then, she remembered how Chloe had shut down and shut her out. Chloe had been closed off to her ever since.

“Mom...I...Max is....”

“Shh, honey.  Shhh.  Max is a fighter...”  Joyce kissed the side of her daughter’s head, softly and held her even tighter.

“It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.  If I’d just...”

Joyce shushed her again, rocking her in her arms as she made eye contact with her husband, “Any news?” 

“None.”

“She’s been in there for an hour...” Chloe pulled away, “That can’t be good.”

“The longer they work on her the better.  Means they haven’t given up.”  David placed a hand on her shoulder.  Joyce was surprised Chloe didn’t jerk away.

 

* * *

 

“Am I dead, Rachel?”  Max touched her own body, as if it could somehow tell her.  She still felt solid.  Still felt whole. 

“You?  No.  Not yet, anyway.” Rachel smiled, “Sit!  I’ve been dying to talk to you.”

Max sat opposite Rachel. Overall, Rachel was the type of beautiful Max had only seen on television or in magazines – the type of beauty that almost blinds you.  Rachel’s eyes were so incredibly intense.  They were the kind of eyes that drew you in and never intended to let you go. “To me?”

“Yes, duh, of course.  You’re the woman of the hour.  You saved the day – sacrifice yourself for the girl you love, save her, save the town, get justice for the dead popular girl.” Max could feel her cheeks flush, “Oh my God, Chloe was sooooo right about you.  You’re adorable.”

“Chloe talked to you, um, about me?”

“Are you kidding?  She talked about you, like, all the time.  Granted, it was usually her cursing your name for leaving.  But sometimes, she’d let it slip.  You know she’s in love with you, right?” 

“Um...uh...no, she’s not.  She’s definitely not.” Could her cheeks get any hotter? “She...and you know, like, you and her were...”

Rachel chuckled deeply, “It wasn’t like we were girlfriends, Max.”

“You weren’t?”

“No.  I mean, we hooked up.  I liked her.  A lot.  And I didn’t want to hurt her...” 

Anger bubbled to the surface, anger Max didn’t even know was there, “Well, you did.” 

“I know.  I definitely know that.  And I’m sorry.  I mean, shit, look at me.  I didn’t know how much I was hurting her.  Or Frank.  I fell in love with a psychopath.”

“That’s not your fault, Rachel.  Jefferson – he pulled me in too, just like he did with you.”

“But you weren’t dumb enough to fall for it or for Nathan’s ‘sad boy’ routine.”

“Only because I had these stupid time powers.  That was the only reason I was able to do anything, Rachel.”

“But it chose you for a reason.  Whatever it was, the universe or whatever – it sees something in you.  Probably the same thing Chloe sees in you.  The same thing I’m seeing in you right now.”

“I – uh – I didn’t think it was possible to blush this much.” 

“Score!  Honestly, I wish we’d have met.  Me and Chloe would definitely be fighting over you.”

“You’re doing this on purpose.” 

“Yup.” A giggle. 

“Ugh...”


	3. Still Time for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a feeling in the air around them – like a ripple or a wave in water, but in the wind.

The Caulfields were always so reserved.  So much less emotional than Chloe’s family.  Chloe could remember Max telling her how she’d never seen her mother cry before – that they showed concern for her, but it always seemed like she had too many emptions for them to process.  Too much for them to deal with.  Her feelings were always too intense for most, but not too intense for Chloe.

But today couldn’t be more different, as a crying Vanessa rushed into the hospital and a frantic looking Ryan followed her.

“Where is she?  Have you got any updates?  How did this even happen?”  There’s a pleading in Vanessa’s voice that Chloe recognized. 

Joyce was hugging her.  David was introducing himself.

Chloe was just trying to hold on.

 “This is my fault...I’m sorry...”

  
“Chloe...” Chloe hated the sound of pity in Joyce’s voice. 

“No, she wouldn’t have been there it wasn’t for me.  If she wasn’t trying to save me, she’d be fine....”

“Chloe,” Ryan’s voice was soft, reminding Chloe of a Ryan of the past – of a man who’d bandaged her boo-boos, of a man who had loved her like a father, “No one blames you, but you need to tell us what happened.”

And Chloe really wanted to tell him everything – that Max had jumped back in time and that Chloe had followed her somehow.  That Max was determined to sacrifice herself to save Chloe and the town from this shitty time storm.  But he would never get it.  No one would ever know or understand that week.

“I was shaking down Nathan Prescott for cash.  He owed me for – for some really fucked up shit he did to me.  I didn’t know he was going to have a gun,” _Not the first time anyway_ , “I didn’t know Max was there.  I guess she saw what was going down and got his attention.  And then the gun went off.  And Max was hit.  And I tried to press on the wound but there was just so much fucking blood....”

Max had Ryan’s eyes, Chloe thought, as she finally looked at the man, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t want this to happen.”

If Chloe had anything else to say, it was cut off by a serious looking man in scrubs. 

“Family of Maxine Caulfield?”

 

* * *

 

Even if she might be dying – or whatever was happening, Max could honestly say she was enjoying Rachel’s company.  Chloe was right about one thing – Max and Rachel had a lot more in common than Max had imagined.  They’d spent what felt like hours theorizing about where they were, what Max’s powers meant, about spirit animals, the meaning of time  – whatever “hours” or “time” meant here, or really anywhere nowadays.

“I always felt like you were guiding me along – pointing me in the right direction, giving me clues.”

“No, I haven’t really figured out how to interact with, you know, the other side.  I can follow though, so I did watch you guys.  You were totally badass.” 

“The power, not me.”

 “Girl, you really need to let the humble, delicate flower routine go.” Rachel shoved Max a bit with her shoulder. 

“It’s not a routine though.  That’s the sad part.”

“You know, I think we really would’ve been friends, Max.” Rachel smiled widely.

“I don’t know, Rachel.  You were...you know, popular.  I’m a wallflower – “

“Wallflowers know more than anyone, are honest, are kind.  I could’ve used a bit of that.”

“And maybe I could have used a bit of your spark.  You know, your _thirst for life_ , some might say.”

Rachel chuckled, “Well, there’s still time for you.”

“Are you sure about that?  Nathan shot me in the chest, I think.  You usually, uh, don’t come back from that.” Max only vaguely remembered the shot now, she thought.  But she did remember where it hit.  Upper chest, to the right.

“That doesn’t mean your story is over.  Besides, I think Chloe needs you.  She always did, you know?”

“She had you.” There’s a bitter touch to her voice that felt new to Max.  She liked Rachel.  She really, really did.  But goddamn if she wasn’t jealous.

“I’m not you.  She needs _you_.” Rachel bumped her shoulder against Max’s gently, “I know you don’t see it, but even though she was pissed at you, she loves the hell out of you.”

There’s a feeling in the air around them – like a ripple or a wave in water, but in the wind.

“You feel that?” Max asked, sounding terrified.

“Yeah.”  Rachel looked around, shocked.  But the look was quickly replaced with contentment, “I think it’s time.”

“Time for what?” Max, genuinely confused, found herself being embraced by Rachel.

“For me to go and I think, for you to go too.  Listen, Max.  You’re amazing.  Take some risks.  If anyone can afford to, its you.  Shit, you deserve to.  If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for Chloe.  Or for me.”

“I will.”

“Tell Chloe....tell her I’m sorry.  Okay?”

“Of course.” 

“Take care of her, Max.  And take care of you.”

Max watched as Rachel left the clubhouse, walking along the train tracks.  She watched as she walked toward the setting sun, until she couldn’t see her shape anymore.

And then Max felt tired again and the urge to close her eyes became too overwhelming.

 

So, she closed her eyes, and waited.


	4. Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Chloe have a heart to heart.

Chloe braced herself for the inevitable – just another thing in Chloe’s life that was so, so unfair.  He was going to tell them that they couldn’t save her, that Max was gone... 

“I’m Dr. Rampersad.  Maxine is going to pull through.”  The collective sigh of relief was almost deafening.

“Oh, thank God.” Vanessa’s voice is tense, tight with fear that her body had yet to release.

“The bullet entered her upper right chest, went through her lung and lodged itself in the trapezius.  We were able to retrieve it, but she has a partially collapsed lung.  She’s got a tube in her chest, connected to a pump, to get any excess air out of her chest cavity.  With some hope, we’ll get that lung functioning at full capacity again.”  The doctor’s smile was promising, “She’s very lucky.  She lost a lot of blood, but other than her lung, there should be no lasting damage.  The EEG is showing perfect brain function – maybe even more activity than normal.”

“Can I see her?” Chloe stated matter-of-factly.  She knew Max’s parents were here, and they should be the first to see her, but, when she was honest, she really didn’t give two shits about anyone or anything that wasn’t Max in that moment. 

“She’s in the recovery room, coming around from the anesthetic.  When she’s moved into a room, someone will be out to get you.  I’ll warn you; she’ll be on some pretty strong pain killers, there’s a chance she’ll still be out of it.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”  Ryan reached out to shake the man’s hand before the doctor turned to leave.  Off to save another life, no doubt.

“I need a fucking smoke.” Chloe could feel herself trembling.  _Max is alive.  Max is alive and I can see her.  I need to see her_. 

“Mind if I join you?” Ryan’s eyes were sympathetic.

“Yeah, sure.”

Finding a spot on a set of stairs leading to a footbridge between the hospital and the parking garage across the street from the hospital – damn no-smoking campuses and their rules.  The pair sat and lit up.

“Max didn’t tell me you guys were back in touch.”

Chloe coughed, remembering the white lie she had to tell, “Um..yeah, it had only been a couple days.  A week, really.  And we fell right back into routine, you know.  Like it hadn’t been 5 years.  She was still _my_ Max after all this time and you know, I felt like _me_ again with her.  I was so fucking mad at her for leaving.  And at you guys for taking her away from me.  Until I saw her again.”

Chloe wanted to say that seeing her again reminded her of what it was like to be hopeful, to have something to live for.

“Sometimes, I wish we hadn’t left.” Ryan admitted. “I know it was hard on you...”

“It’s...it’s okay.  I get it now.  You were doing what you thought was best for your family.”  Chloe smiled sadly, “I should never have let her – I never should’ve involved her in my bullshit.”

“Max was always going to be involved in anything that involved you, especially if you were in trouble.  Do you remember how many times you both ended up in detention because Max didn’t want you to go down for a scheme on your own?”

“Max always had my back.  Just wish I’d had hers.”

“You did and I think you still do.  You used to protect her, bring out the best in her.  You are always the one who brought her out of her shell.  She comes alive when she’s with you.  She just shrunk into herself in Seattle.”

Chloe could feel her cheeks getting impossibly warm.  Was that true?

“So,” Ryan took a drag, “Does Max know you’re into her?”

Chloe choked, her lungs filling with both smoke and embarrassment, “Wh-hat?! No, I..I mean...she...and I...”

Ryan chuckled, “God, that was good.  You should’ve seen your face.”  He patted Chloe’s back.

“You asshole.” She laughed despite herself. 

“You know, it’s okay, right?  If you wanted to date my kid, it would be okay.  You’re who I’d want her to end up with.”

“Me?  The dropout who got your daughter shot?  Sure, that makes perfect sense!” Chloe rolled her eyes.  Yes, that's what she wanted - to be with Max in every sense of the expression.  But she didn't expect the Caulfields to be okay with that.  What did she really even have going for her?  She was unemployed, uneducated, and with so much baggage.  Who'd want their daughter to be with someone like that.

“You know better than to think that matters.  You’re 19, you have so much time to turn it all around.  As long as you love her, everything else is tangential.  And for the record, Max would take a million bullets for you.” 

“You—uh, you really think, I’d be good for her?”

“I know you would.”

Chloe knew she was still blushing hard, but she kind of didn’t care.  The father of the girl she loved _shipped_ them and, really, could she complain about a little embarrassment?

The moment was broken by a blue hatchback pulling up to the hospital and four familiar faces hopping out – Warren, Dana, Juliet, and Kate. 

“Max’s friends.  I should probably talk to them.” Chloe put out her cigarette on the ground, “You’ll tell me when we can see Max, right?”

“Of course.”

Ryan watched Chloe’s figure jog across the street to the four teenagers.  In every way, Chloe looked different from the girl he’d known 5 years ago.  Taller, angrier, and certainly more colorful.  She was still, however, crazy about his daughter.  He’d known it when they were kids, and he and William had had a running bet as to when Chloe or Max would realize it.  William figured they’d be dating by the time they were 13 and 14.  Ryan bet early adulthood.

Ryan looked up at the sky before taking another drag, “Well, William, looks like you owe me $20.”

* * *

 

  

Max’s eyes slowly opened to bright white light.  _Ah_ , she thought, _finally crossing over, I guess_.  But she blinked again and the light came into focus – just an abrasive overhead light fixture.  Her ears picked up the sound of a softly beeping heart monitor, a tight feeling in her chest, and then a voice.

“Welcome back, Maxine.  We’ve got you all patched up and you’re going to be fine.” A young nurse clad in green scrubs smiled down at her.

In a sore, scratchy voice, Max said her first word in hours.  The only word that mattered, “Chloe...”


End file.
